My Nerd Journal

My Review of Environmental Monitoring with Arduino by Emily Gertz and Patrick Di Justo

2012-02-04T22:02:00.003-06:00

So, it's been quite a while but I finally got around to going through another book to review. This time, it was Environmental Monitoring with Arduino by Emily Gertz and Patrick Di Justo. I've become a little more familiar with Arduino so I didn't really need this book but I got it more to see how it handled really beginner type information. For the most part, I think they did a pretty good job.

It starts off by going through some really basic information that is fundamental to programming and engineering in general. Sometimes we engineers take that for granted and assume everyone will take those same steps. That's a nice little prelude to the rest of the book.

The first chapter is titled "The World's Shortest Electronics Primer" and that pretty much sums it up and unfortunately, this is where there is the only real glaring mistake that I found in the entire book. The first example they step a reader through is blinking an LED, which is really the first thing anyone does with an Arduino. Without actually connecting up any hardware, it would be easy to run this sketch but instead, the authors try to help out the reader by explaining how to create their first circuit. I'm sure their intentions were good but they connected an LED from an output to ground without the use of a resistor.

No, it won't burn up the Arduino and no it shouldn't burn up the LED in an instant but that's poor practice and might be construed as another way to connect an LED to a circuit. Later in the book the proper way to connect an LED is shown but with two conflicting examples, a novice would take the easier route by not using a resistor because "it worked for the first example so why not do it again?" It's bad practice and design.

Aside from that issue, the rest of the book did an admirable job of teaching a novice how to connect up simple circuits and program the Arduino to make it do something with the circuit. Occasionally, there were a few somewhat related but not really relavent tangents that I thought could have been omitted from the book (e.g., save the whales from noise pollution) but that's more my opinion that it didn't belong more than anything else. Others may appreciate those tidbits.

The "Things to Try" at the end of each chapter were nice exercises for the reader to try but there were a few that would really be difficult to do even for a more advanced programmer and designer (e.g., waterproofing a sound sensing circuit for underwater use). As nice as the idea sounds, actually executing the idea will be quite the difficult task, especially for a novice.

One nice potential addition to the book would have been a full parts list up from or as an appendix that outlined all the parts used in the book and where to get each part. They do list out each part in the respective chapters but a consolidated list would be nice.

Overall, I thought the book did a good job of outlining the basics of sensing the environment. It should be a good book worth looking at for anyone interested in sensors but only as a basic primer to sensing as there are a lot of other things to consider when setting up a sensing circuit.

Disclaimer: This book was received as part of the O'Reilly Blogger Review Program. All comments represent my thoughts and opinions.

New Horizons

2011-05-16T19:10:00.004-05:00

So, I finally got around to putting my Slow Stick back together after having last flown it in Oklahoma. It was a little dusty but I had secret plans for it.

I first put it back together and left it pretty much as is except for some super landing gear I had custom made for me by the designer. I didn't have the resources to put it together myself so he did it for me. Considering it was just $18 from him in Canada, it wasn't a bad deal at all. You can see the landing gear here.
I took it out for the initial test flight and crashed it straight into the road but only broke a prop and bent the motor shaft a little. It was a little windy and had been a while since I flew so I wasn't too surprised. Then I flew it again and it flew really well, despite the wind. I could tell the vibration from the slightly bent shaft was causing major vibration in the wheels and frame but I worked that out later.

Over the next couple of week, I started putting one new part on and then doing a test flight to make sure it all worked just fine. I did that over and over making little modifications to smooth things out until I finally decided to go for it and this it what I ended up with and I'm pretty happy about it.

SS Video in B&W from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

Excuse the plaid pants as I wasn't feeling all that well that day and it was going to rain for six days straight so I just went out when I had a chance.

Yes, the video is in black and white but there's a reason for it. Before I put on the video gear, the plane's total worth was about $130 but with it, it goes up another $70+ before the camera so until I learn to fly better, I'm sticking with a cheap $10 B&W camera.

Now for any of you that have seen my previous videos, you know I've filmed in color before so this may be a step back but there's a good reason for it. The older videos were recorded onto the camera memory card that was connected to the camera. This time, I'm streaming video wirelessly back to the ground where I am, which gives me the ability to fly from the pilot's perspective. In the r/c world, this is a somewhat recent development called first-person view (FPV) flying. One of my dreams growing up was to be a fighter pilot. Well, that obviously didn't happen but this is the next best thing without spending thousands of dollars to get a pilot's license.

So, there are a few growing pains that come with learning to fly FPV and one is crashing. It doesn't have to be that way if you're careful but regardless, things can go wrong no matter how careful you are so I'm using a cheap camera until I get more proficient flying through the camera. This flight was just a typical r/c flight as I watched the plane and not the video feed. I have a 7" LCD screen and a set of video goggles that I'll eventually be flying through so I'm really looking forward to the fun I can have with all of this. Hopefully I won't be reporting a lost plane any time soon. I'll definitely need to take some precautions to make sure I can track the plane so I can find it should anything ever happen to it.

I have a nice little ground setup I'm working on too so I'll post as that progresses. Stay tuned for more as the weather is getting better.

My Review of Make: Arduino Bots and Gadgets by Kimmo Karvinen and Tero Karvinen

2011-04-04T21:24:00.002-05:00

For anyone looking for a good step-by-step process of how to create any of these given projects, this is an excellent book assuming you know about programming in Arduino. It assumes you know about Arduino but if you don't know Python, don't sweat, it goes over the basics to get you going. The beginning of the book gives you a good set of requirements to know what to expect from the book as well as what the authors expect from a reader. They even tell you the best way to read the book. Then they go into a list of what you should have to be able to complete the projects in the book. The parts are listed out in each project but the first chapter tells you what you should have to help you build the projects and is a handy reference for anyone looking to do DIY work.

The projects included in the book are good for a wide variety of people. If you're only interested in one project, you might not be all that interested in getting the book but if there is more than one that you might consider putting together, it's a worthwhile investment. I was especially intrigued by the interactive painting project as it interfaced with Python and the smart home project as I had considered doing that myself before I even ran across the book.
What I find to be the best point of this book is the pictures in each chapter. I received the pdf version of the book and every picture is in full color and good quality unlike many other books I have gone through. When I went through the book, I was really taken back by the pictures and that really added to the experience of going through this book and will be handy reference in the future.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who may be interested in more than one of these projects. You may be able to find some plans or come up with your own for free but if you don't know where to start or want step-by-step directions, this is a great book to get you going.

Disclaimer: This book was received as part of the O'Reilly Blogger Review Program. All comments represent my thoughts and opinions.

My Review of Arduino Cookbook

2011-03-28T10:06:00.002-05:00

Create your own robots, toys, remote controllers, alarms, detectors, and many other projects with the Arduino device. This simple microcontroller board lets artists and designers build a variety of amazing objects and prototypes that interact with the physical world. With this book, you can dive...

Excellent Arduino Reference

Okay, so I have another book review to do. I blew through this book but it took less time because I was really into it and it helps that I understood a whole lot about it already so it was more a matter of going through the code to see what was going on.
So, the book I'm talking about is the Arduino Cookbook by Michael Margolis. If you have a little programming experience, want to learn the Arduino, and can read the instructions given, this is the book for you. I found this to be a very thorough book in getting people new to Arduino up to speed and gives great examples on how to do just about anything you would want. Even if you know the Arduino, it's a great reference for other projects you may want to do in the future.

I have been learning the Arduino on my own using some tutorials online and found this to be an excellent compliment to what I have been learning. It goes over how to install the software on Windows and Mac and then helps you through the process of connecting up to your board. This can be found online but it's good to see some basics in there. Being extremely rusty on C/C++ programming, there were some nuances to C that I did not know and this book pointed those subtleties out. What I really found impressive in the beginning chapters was the advanced code used by C programmers to make things a little easier, if you happen to know advanced C. I'm in the process of learning C at work so this is great that I get to have fun at home while polishing what I learn at work at the same time.

The latter chapter in the book start to go through many different projects that can be done and gives you the basics of how to do them. You'll need to know a little about what you're wanting to do but gives good references of where to go and look for more information just in case you need to learn a little more before you dive into your project. There's one small project where you learn how to interface a Playstation controller with the computer and then control Google Earth with it. I'm definitely giving that one a try and then will gets called a huge nerd for doing it. Thus is the life of an engineer that has fun at home with electronics. Oh well.

As good as this book is, there are a few shortcomings I found a little disturbing for anyone that doesn't know much about what they are doing. I found some minor mistakes in the book such as the output to the serial monitor being slightly different than what you would expect. e.g., when parsing out words separated by commas, it shows two of the three words separated but doesn't show the last word. If you code it up as shown, it does it just fine but if you are trying to check against the book, it will be "wrong" because the book is missing part of the output. Also, in the first chapter, it shows how to connect a small speaker to the Arudino and explains how to get a tone out of it but doesn't show how to do any of it in the example code given. The code has a minor omission that with the proper fix, should run the speaker just fine.

I have to say this was a great book and will be wonderful to have around. Thanks again to O'Reilly for sending me a copy to review. I really enjoy this program!

Disclaimer: This book was received as part of the O'Reilly Blogger Review Program. All the comments represent my thoughts and opinions.

(legalese)

Programming Python by Mark Lutz

2011-03-25T07:27:00.005-05:00

For those of you that may possibly read my blog, you may have noticed my last post about wanting to learn Python. Well, I have the unique opportunity of reviewing a few technical books as a blogger so I'm going to start putting up some short reviews as they come along. I'm also going to post on some of my nerd projects as I go along as well to keep you up-to-date on what I'm messing around with.
So, on to what I thought about Programming Python by Mark Lutz.

The book is a great tool if you want to delve further into Python but if you're new to programming and trying to learn Python, you'll want to start with Learning Python by Mark Lutz as that will give you the necessary foundation. Then you can move to Programming Python. I was interested in learning the language and didn't realize there was a Learning Python so I got Programming Python instead. Luckily, I've programmed in a couple of languages so I was able to go through the book and learn what I needed to know. I guess being an engineer helps as well since I can figure out some other things on my own if necessary.

In the book, there are many good examples given that explain what you are trying to learn. As with other O'Reilly books I've looked through at the library, this also has plenty of code to help you through all the topics covered in the book. The index is well done and is great as a reference for later on when you need to look something up in a pinch. Something I found even more useful is a digital copy of the book. Using Adobe Reader, you can search through the entire text so if you really need to find something, you can find it quickly, even without the index. I guess that's a plus now that things are going digital.

What I found really interesting is Chapter 20 about the integration of Python with C. Seeing a lot of operational systems use C, that chapter was particularly useful as it helped me better understand how to interface the two languages together. MATLAB is also able to interface with C and it's great, but expensive. Python is free so I can do similar things to MATLAB without the hefty price and I can interface with C. It was a very useful chapter.

Alright, I'm done reviewing for now but I hope to have something a little more detailed in the next review I may do. It'll be a while longer as I've got a ton of other things going on but I hope to review something about an Arduino next time.

Stay tuned...

Short Update

2011-02-26T19:30:00.002-06:00

Wow, so it has been a really long time hasn't it? Things have been quite busy though and I should have a little more time to play with things but my interests have changed somewhat.

In addition to the simple r/c stuff I have been doing for a while, I have started doing some microcontroller programming with an Arduino and programming with a LEGO MINDSTORMS kit to get a little into the robotics world. I have also begun working on amateur UAV work as well with some hardware from DIY Drones and that has been fun. It's been fairly time consuming but I'm learning a whole lot and it is great.

I have always used MATLAB in a lot of the stuff I did at school and I still use it at work but since I don't have a copy at home, I'm considering learning Python as it's fairly similar to MATLAB from what I have heard. I'm excited to get going on it and looking for a good book. If anyone has any recommendations, that would be great!

Anyway, this isn't just an r/c blog anymore but it's more a compilation of all the nerd stuff that I do now and I'll post updates as they come along. Some of the projects I'm working on will take some time but that's okay. I'll have good informative posts when all is said and done.

Stay tuned...

Good Old Times

2009-12-18T14:59:00.001-06:00

Well, I doubt anyone is following this blog at all but I thought I would update and just say that I have finished my masters and all my responsibilities that go along with it and am free to have a little fun after work now! I have my FPV project coming along nicely and will be working on that. Currently, I have the whole video feed working correctly but still need to get audio working somehow. I guess I must have soldered something wrong. Anyway, I'll try to update this a little more often again.

Wings Across America Flight

2009-09-09T19:22:00.003-05:00

So, I signed up about a year and a half or so ago to be a pilot for Wings Across America (WAA) to help fly an r/c airplane in every state in the US. They started it last year in Virginia and it's finally made it to me. I was pilot number 155. Yesterday, I met up with Jim who was pilot number 154 and we made the hand off in Moore. It was nice to meet a fellow pilot and I was able to get a picture with him. Since I didn't ask his permission to post the picture, I'll hold off on it although if you really want to see it, you can get to it through the WAA website in a round-a-bout way. Anyway, he explained to me a little about the plane and what I needed to do to get it set up and what was in the box. After a few words and pictures, we loaded up the box into the car and I headed home hoping the weather would cooperate enough to let me fly it quickly to get it to Jim, pilot number 156.

I got the box home and we were both very impressed with how nice the box is. There are stickers all over the sides of the box of various r/c clubs that have participated.

There are signatures of every volunteer pilot registered to fly for WAA on the top of the box as you can see in that last picture.
I was even on the website for WAA as having had possession of the plane.

Anyway, today, I thought it would be nice to try and fly the plane and hand it off the Jim #156 as soon as possible. I was online at work and saw an article on CNN about how people did some interesting things on September 9, 2009 (999) and I thought, "I should fly the plane on 09-09-09!" I decided I had to do it today since the wind wouldn't be that strong and I wouldn't have a chance any time soon as it was supposed to rain for the next week.

We packed the plane up and headed to the park to go fly. As I was getting it put together in the back of the van, I found the wind was stronger than it was supposed to be. I had the thought in the back of my mind, "Don't do it" but I really wanted to fly on 999 and I didn't know when else I would be able to fly soon. So, I got everything ready anyway, Kendall sat in the back of the van ready to take pictures, and Thomas sat in his car seat.

I did a range check, lined up the plane to fly into the wind, got behind the plane, and hit the throttle to get going and it just went in a circle. I tried again, and went in another circle. I repeated this several times.

You see, with a tail dragging plane, there are issues when you try and take off. Unless everything is just perfect, you tend to turn one way or another. The trick is to just throttle up the plane so the tail doesn't drag and if it's trimmed right, you'll go straight. I was nervous doing that though because it was windy and in addition to that, it wasn't my plane and there are about 150 more people after me that need to fly it, so I couldn't take unnecessary risks.

Well, I finally got it up in the air and started a circuit around the parking lot in the air. By then Thomas had started crying so Kendall had to get him and take care of him so all the pictures of the plane were taken while taking care of Thomas. Quite the feat if I may say so. Some were pretty good shots.

A few were not quite what you want when taking a picture of the plane.

Where's the plane?

She did a great job. I like the one where it's just taking off. You'll have to click that first picture to see the details.

Anyway, I got up in the air and realized, "It's a lot windier up there than it is down here!" but it was too late to jump ship. I had to fly it and get it down somehow in one piece and I could only fly for 5-6 minutes on a pack before the motor could have cut out.

I did one circuit around the parking lot and tried to bring it in for a landing and was way too high to land closely so I throttled up again to gain altitude and do another circuit. Well, same thing again. I came in too high so I throttled up and tried to get it back North flying with the wind to get in position and lost control for a second and the wind turned it left (I was trying to go right) so it lost altitude quickly but finally turned North and went where I wanted it to go. I made sure to give it a little down elevator and got it low enough to land. The wind was strong enough that I probably could have floated it down and landed like a helicopter but I didn't care to try so I just landed the best I could and I landed it just fine.

Kind of hard to see there but it landed just fine even though it may look like it might have crashed.

I was quite relieved that it was back down on the ground in one piece. I took it back over to Kendall relieved that I had been able to fly it on 09-09-09 and also get it back down without any problems because I really thought I was in trouble when I was in the air.

This evening, I finished off the rest of my responsibilities. I was supposed to write my experiences and any advice to the next pilot(s) in the log book and sign the top of the box as I was one of the volunteer pilots.

It really was a lot of fun to be able to participate in Wing Across America. If I end up in Arizona in the next few months, I could have the opportunity to fly it again which I believe will be a first for the journey, to have the same person fly in two states, but I could be wrong.

Here's the video of the flight. Sorry for how bumpy it is. If you zoom in closely where I'm flying to plane in the picture where it's taking off, you'll probably be able to see I have a hat on with a camera mounted on it so I can record where I was looking. Obviously, I missed the plane in some areas but I didn't care at the time because I was more concerned about getting the plane back in one piece. It was just a bumpy recording since I was moving around with it on my head.

View on ExposureRoom

Here's the final hand-off with Jim #156.

Thanks to everyone who has participated and to all those that made it possible! I really enjoyed it and hope it makes it around the US quickly.

First Racing Experience

2009-06-13T12:36:00.003-05:00

Well, I went to my very first race and had a blast there. It was at Competition R/C in Oklahoma City and the people there were really nice about everything and all the competitors were great as well.
The way everything works is there are 3 qualifying heats and 1 main. All are 4 minutes long which is shorter than what I have seen at most places but with all the classes running there, it needs to be short or you wouldn't be able to fit in 4 total races for each class.
I ran in the Slash class which was combined with the other 2wd trucks and buggys since there were only 4 Slashes in the field. They scored us separately which was nice to see as they are different types of trucks.
In my very first heat, I came in 3rd in the Slash class but 5th overall in 10 vehicles. I was pretty excited about it seeing as I have never raced competitively. Maybe it's all that hand eye coordination from video games when I was a kid and from playing the piano and drums.
In the second heat, I was 3rd again in the Slash class but 7th out of the 10. I wasn't as smooth and crashed more so that explains it. Kendall had a great time laughing at the video I made since I was getting stuck everywhere. It was kind of funny to see her laughing so much at an r/c truck.
In the third heat, I came in 2nd in the Slash class and 3rd overall. That felt really good. I really ran well and had a good time on that run. I didn't realize it until the end as you will see but there was a guy trying to catch me the whole race and he got close but I eventually made it without getting passed.
Then came the main. I qualified to start in the 5th spot which I was pleased with but my nerves got to me and I finished 4th in the Slash class and 9th overall. I felt really bad about it more because I kept running into people without meaning to and knocked them off course. I was actually out in front of the Slash class for a lap or two and then just fell apart. Hopefully I can stay calm the next time out which will be a while still.
I took two videos (heat 2 and heat 3) from my hat cam and they turned out just fine. They are posted below.
Thanks go to Competition R/C again for a nice atmosphere and a great track for the Slash.
Enjoy!

First Racing Experience - Heat 2 By Kenta Hood
View in HD Download 720p HD Version Visit Kenta Hood's ExposureRoom Videos Page

http://www.exposureroom.com/clip5

Length: 4:51

First Racing Experience - Heat 3 By Kenta Hood
View in HD Download 720p HD Version Visit Kenta Hood's ExposureRoom Videos Page

http://www.exposureroom.com/clip9

Length: 4:43

Longest Vapor Flight

2009-06-02T19:02:00.003-05:00

Okay, it's been a really long time since I updated anything (5 months). I took this video on a rare calm day here in Oklahoma. I can't fly the Vapor in any wind so the weather was perfect for it. It was right after Thomas was born and I was home for a good week that I got to go and fly. I didn't edit it much as I don't have much time to spend on it right now but hopefully you'll just go through and watch any parts that you like.
The plane is a fun little plane to fly. It only weighs about 15g so it's very light, hence why I can't fly in any wind whatsoever. It flies slow enough that I can even fly it indoors if I have enough room. One of these days, I might get a video of me flying inside the church gym.
Anyway, enjoy the video. Skip through to whatever you want as it is about 17 minutes long.

Long Vapor Flight By Kenta Hood
View in HD Download 720p HD Version Visit Kenta Hood's ExposureRoom Videos Page

http://www.exposureroom.com/clip3

Length: 16:49

Backyard Racing

2009-01-03T09:08:00.005-06:00

Okay, this really isn't in the backyard but it's in the rear driveway of my parents house. I got a new truck for Christmas and some cones as well so I thought I would set up a little course for me to run on. I really like how the Slash looks when running on the road. It rolls a lot like a real car would so it looks even better than my Rustler running on the road. That's what I saw when I was in Arkansas watching these race on the track. I didn't know what it was that I liked about them but I realized now that it was the body roll that made them look so real. You can disregard some of the commentary by my wife. Some of it's good but then some of it is laughable like going to the bathroom comments.

Backyard Racing from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2706643

Length: 2:15

Onboard PiP

2008-10-29T07:01:00.005-05:00

Okay, here's another fun video. It's been months since I've last posted a video but then it has almost been months since I've done any RC-ing. So here's this one.
Since I'm in Fort Smith about once a month, I decided to look for a track and found a nice little one to run on. They have races weekly and other than during the race, the track is open for anyone (for free even). It was a ton of fun to actually race on a track. I remember people running on an indoor track at RC/RC when I was really young and wanted to try it sometime. Now about 15 years later, I finally got to.
I didn't enter the races because of some other things but the people at River Valley were really nice and very fun to talk to and race with. I won't go into detail about it since most of the banter on here is usually about the video.
This video is something I have always wanted to do and finally got around to. I had to have the right software (Norrkross Movie did it for me) and the video capability to do it. I finally got around to finding the right software in a nice little package from MacUpdate and also finally got around to getting the right "equipment" to take the other video. Here's a picture of the setup for the not onboard video.

Pretty interesting huh? It's call the hat cam, kind of like referees in the NFL I guess but less sophisticated. I got the idea from a guy on an r/c airplane forum where they do some aerial video.
The video turned out well. I had only run about 5 laps before I felt confident enough to run around without ruining the camera on the VXL so I headed out. I took it a little easy and didn't go as fast as I could run to protect the camera. That didn't stop me from accidents but I had some protection as well to save the camera. I didn't get any video of me or others racing afterwards because I ran out of battery on my hat cam but maybe next time we are out in Fort Smith. One interesting note is the $80 camera on my head takes video in HD. Amazing huh? I lose a little quality because I convert the initial video from an avi to mp4 because of some silly header file that causes me grief and then there's a little compression when I export the video and then once more, there is a little compression when it's uploaded but surprisingly, it's not that bad even online.
Anyway, the video was shortened to not take your whole life.
Enjoy!

Onboard PiP from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2098640

Length: 2:49

Quick Update

2008-10-22T23:46:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I've been slacking off a bit on the hobby stuff but I have a good reason...my master's research. Anyway, I did make two recent changes. First I changed the template but more importantly, I changed my videos over from Google Video to Vimeo and that has made quite a difference. The videos are much better quality and less compressed so you can see it almost as if it was the actual file loaded on your computer.
I also have a new camera I've been wanting to try out for months now and I may get a chance soon so when I get my good video I have been planning for months, I'll definitely post it soon. Stay tuned!

Skate Park Bashed

2008-06-17T21:00:00.009-05:00

Well, here's another video taken fairly recently. A friend and I went out to the skate park early in the morning to have some fun before we had to leave for work. We had a blast playing around. We had some good races and then I had the silly idea of putting my VXL in the regular sport mode. Last time I did that, I broke a bearing carrier. Not bad but still, I broke something.
Anyway, I put it in sport mode and had a little too much fun jumping around. As you can see, it got up about 10 feet or maybe a little higher. It was a lot of fun. There's a shot where I lose a wheel but it wasn't the impact that caused it. The nut fell off mid air and it spun off itself. I think that one landing might have done in one of the cells of my 2S2P LiPo battery.
So, we jumped around a bit and then I saw that my Tx (transmitter) batteries were low. Generally, it's not good to drive it like that and I had bad glitching problems before but this time, everything was still great so being dumb, I took it out for a few more jumps...four to be exact. The last four you see are the ones. I was about to finish playing around but then as you will see on the last jump, I landed kind of funny. I tried to turn up the sound some over the music so you could get an idea of what happened.
The music on this one is a little more well known. Maybe you can guess that as well.
I thought my battery was gone because it got all banged up after the crash. So, I called around to see if anyone would be able to take it apart and most of the companies don't work with Li-ion or LiPo so I thought I was out of luck. I considered doing it myself but knowing that if there was even a small accidental short while I tried to unsolder and solder it back up, the whole pack would be dead and in the worst case, it would possibly explode (not likely but they can blow up in certain cases).
Luckily, I got online and posted on one of my forums I read and someone said they would fix it for really cheap. I sent it off to them and now it just needs to be tested out to make sure the remaining three cells work and then I'll have it back in an even better configuration, three cells in series. It'll only be a 3200mAh pack but since it's a 15C rating, that's 48A continuous and about 72A burst which is pretty good as I have it geared down some. I doubt it will be a problem since I'm usually in training mode to limit the amount of things I break.
The ESC (electronic speed control) will definitely need replacing and I actually have a Mamba Max on order. I'm excited to get it as it shouldn't keep coming apart like the other three VXL-3S ESCs I have had to send it for servicing.
Alright, there's the story behind the video.
Enjoy!

Skate Park Bashed from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/1190524

Length: 3:55

VXL Rustler Fun

2008-06-17T20:16:00.005-05:00

Alright, it's been a while since I took these videos but I finally got them all put together. It's from two different takes but they're pretty good nonetheless. I tried to do a couple of different effects this time to make things a little more interesting. I also added a little music to it as well. 5 points for whoever guesses correct on who the band is.
Enjoy!

VXL Rustler Fun from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/1190311

Length: 3:10

Two-Way Stryker View

2008-06-15T20:38:00.007-05:00

Well, I finally got around to getting this video made. I took the two videos and put them together. I really like the second view I got and it shows the propeller and the elevon moving. It's the first of this kind of view for me. I'm sure I'll be doing it some more from now on. Until I find another good location, this may be the last video for a little as it's kind of the same with the videos now. If there's something really interesting though, I'll post it. I have another cool idea which the picture before gives a little hint as to what it may be. I even got an illuminator to try and help out with the camera.
Enjoy!

Two-Way Stryker View from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/1175839

Length: 3:13

Stay Tuned...

2008-05-20T21:01:00.002-05:00

Okay, this isn't much and it's not even a good picture but it's what's in store for the near future. Since the wind is an issue here in Oklahoma during the day, sometimes you have to resort to other means to fly. Enjoy!

First Flight with the e-Logger

2008-05-02T08:13:00.007-05:00

This is the last old one that I have so be ready for new ones and they come! Hopefully, I can get one out every week or two but who knows. You might use that atom thing at the bottom of the blog to get updates if you're really interested. It's fun to see that people have been checking the blog periodically.

This is with the logger that I got for Christmas. You can't see the logger on it in the video but it allows me to keep track of various parameters like the voltage on my battery, the current pulled, a few parameters based on the two, two different temperature sensors, and the altitude. I had an air speed sensor but I thought it wasn't really worth it and never tried it before I returned it.

The video is pretty boring. I even missed getting the landing on video so that makes it even more boring. If you don't want to watch it, I understand. It is interesting to see though the altitude I was flying at so you can check that out. While the video was going, I only got up to about 140 feet. After I took the camera off, I got to about 420 feet though.

Here's a shot of what the logger said my flight was like. I'll just show the elevation as that's the only one that will make sense to most people. Here it is.

I would say enjoy this time like most others but I don't think many would really enjoy this video. The take-off was probably my best one yet as there was almost no wind though which was really nice.

e-Logger Flight from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029495

Length: 5:12

In the Institute

2008-05-02T08:12:00.003-05:00

Again, an older video since it's too windy to really fly right now.

This is inside the institute after I did a little presentation that involved using my helicopter. It's the first video I've taken from the heli so I was interested to see how it turned out. Luckily, everything went well, even after my little mishap. I got turned around and lost orientation in the small area I was in.

Enjoy!

Institute from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029821

Length: 2:22

Cowpies in Missouri

2008-05-02T08:09:00.012-05:00

This is a video I took over Thanksgiving while at my in-laws home. It was really cold outside but a lot of fun. I had so much space to fly around in!
It's not the most interesting video so I cut it down a little and put something new into it that's never been done in any of my videos! If you get bored, I don't blame you.

Here are the pictures I also took while I flew around. Some were from separate flights. I tried to get up pretty high and did an okay job I suppose.
Enjoy!

http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm201/healthyfatboy/Missouri%20Shots/?albumview=slideshow

Cowpies in Missouri from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029472

Length: 3:10

Football from Above

2008-05-02T08:02:00.006-05:00

Here's another older video. It was taken at the marching band practice fields while some people from church were playing football. The flying area wasn't too big so I didn't get nice shots like I had hoped but it still turned out well. It was fun flying around and then anticipation what the video and pictures would look like. It wasn't quite like I had hoped but they still turned out to be pretty good.
The pictures I took from a separate camera can be found here.

http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm201/healthyfatboy/Aerial%20PIctures%20of%20Football/?albumview=slideshow

Enjoy!

Football from Above from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029688

Length: 5:31

High Flying

2008-05-01T20:16:00.013-05:00

Here's another older one from November when we had great weather. I got way up high while I was flying around. It was a lot of fun. I didn't get quite as high as another time I went flying where the altimeter said I was close to 1000 feet but it's still pretty high. Hopefully I can get a chart of my altitude on another post I do later. We'll see.
Here's what a picture from my flight when I went up close to 1000 feet.

And here's another.

Enjoy!

High Flying from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029800

Length: 3:26

Parachuters Again

2008-05-01T19:37:00.007-05:00

Okay, this is another old one but it's pretty good. I actually had the ability to get commentary on this to overlay with it. Pretty neat huh?
There's nothing too much to explain except that after the parachutes drop and we go to the guys, it's pretty shaky. Too bad the hacked CVS cameras don't have an anti-vibration setting. Oh well.
Enjoy!

Parachuters Again from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029935

Length: 2:55

Flying at Dusk

2008-05-01T18:26:00.003-05:00

Okay, now here's a string of older clips I have that I never had a chance to edit to post up but with most of my finals over, I have some time! Here' s a clip of my flying around the apartment around dusk. It's kind of a nice and relaxing flight. I cut out some of the jerky clips to make it easier to watch.
Enjoy!

Flying at Dusk from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029680

Length: 2:51

Skate Park 1

2008-04-25T15:56:00.008-05:00

Okay, here's another video for you all. This was filmed at the skate park in town. It's a fun little place if you can get it without skaters there. We were there around 7:00 a.m. so no one was there. Good fun.

I did about three laps of our little course on this one. Near the end, Dave flipped his car and then I got adventurous and went for a big jump. I probably got about 6 feet but only after my first attempt was thwarted by a metal bar.

I'll post pictures of my camera setup sometime. Acutally, I'll just put it here.

That's without the body. Here it is with the body.

The camera was actually really stable. I was really surprised. Even on landings on the jumps, it didn't shake as much as I thought.

So, watch the video, and leave any comments if you have any.

Enjoy!

Skate Park 1 from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029974

Length: 2:52

VXL FPV with an XL-5

2008-04-22T14:13:00.014-05:00

This was taken from my own truck. It's pretty quick and I had some fun doing this. I was out there with my friend and we had a good time running around. You can see his truck in some of the shots as well.
Enjoy!

VXL FPV witn an XL-5 from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/2035718

Length: 1:54

Traxxas Rustler Onboard Video

2008-04-22T14:01:00.007-05:00

This video is the first I took from a truck. I took the body off, taped the camera onto the truck, and headed off on our little track from the previous video. This again is in my brother's truck. It's really pretty shaky because I'm on dirt so be warned if you get motion sickness easily! It gives you an idea of what things look like from the truck's perspective when going around the whole course. Enjoy!

Traxxas Rustler Onboard Video from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/2035831

Length: 3:57

Running with Dave

2008-04-22T14:00:00.003-05:00

This was posted by a friend who took this video with his camera. It's not a first person view from the truck but it gives you a good idea of the area we like to run in. This was using my brother's truck until I got mine.
Enjoy!

Traxxas Rustler First Onboard from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/2035740

Length: 5:38

First Slow Stick with 'Chute

2008-04-22T12:44:00.005-05:00

This is my first video with my Slow Stick. I had taken all my previous videos with my Stryker. For more information, you can check out the equipment section.

This is a very slow plane hence the name Slow Stick. The Stryker can get up to 80mph but the SS is closer to about 25mph or so. I don't know the exact speed but it's probably even slower that that.

I put this plane together after we got back from Tucson to start school and had a fun time putting it together. I didn't want to just fly though and wanted to be able to do things with it, even for kids and other events so I put together a little contraption and was able to drop things from it. It had to be pretty light so I could take it up without folding the wings together so I mainly take up army men with parachutes. That's where the 'chute came from in the title.

Around 0:45, you should see two little army men parachuting to the ground. It made for a fun video. I hope to one day take some plastic Easter eggs up with some flour it in and get video of my little bombs exploding on impact. My sister said that people might think it's anthrax or something so I shouldn't do it but I doubt people are that paranoid. I'll definitely get it up as soon so I do it though.

I have about 5 or 6 more aerial videos to edit and eventually get posted but I haven't gotten around to it with school. It just takes time to get it just right. Maybe I'll put some music to it as well and see how people like it although I prefer hearing the motor and wind instead.

Remember, your comments and ideas will be taken into account for a future video!

Enjoy!

First Slow Stick with Parachute from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029672

Length: 3:05

Front Without Crashing

2008-04-22T12:32:00.006-05:00

This was my last video in Tucson. Pretty standard. Starting with this video, I cut out boring parts and anything too repetitive to make the videos shorter and more enjoyable. I really like sitting there and watching the videos but most people don't want to sit around for 6 minutes watching something from the air. Hopefully we'll end up back in Tucson once I finish with school. It was a great place and they love r/c planes there. Maybe one of these days, I'll get video of other planes flying around. We'll see.

Enjoy!

Front Without Crash from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029765

Length: 3:10

Many Firsts

2008-04-22T12:03:00.004-05:00

Well, this is called many firsts for a reason which you'll see at the title screen. It's the first time I was able to get the camera pointed in the forward facing direction. It made for more stable videos that don't make you quite as sick as the other videos. It was great to see what it would be like if I was actually flying the plane from inside. It made things really fun.

This was also the first video that I realized I was flying out so far. On my approaches for my landings, I would fly over the school and come in from the West to the soccer fields as I touched down. Well, it was with this video that I realized I wasn't over the school when I would make my final turn for my landing approach. I was way past the school. So, it helped me realize that I was flying a lot further than I realized and that I needed to keep it in closer.

The other first was my first crash with this plane. Watch and then I'll explain.

Many Firsts from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

Yeah, I crashed hard. I was coming in for my landing because I wanted to make sure I caught it on video. I was obviously a lot farther out that I realized and lost my orientation. I thought I was banking left but it looked like I was going right so I went to correct it. Then I was so low that I lost it behind the school and couldn't see. In desperation, I tried to pull up because I thought I was close to being upside down and throttled it up so I wouldn't stall if I was going up. Well, as you saw, I throttled myself right into someone's roof.

I'm all worried now because I thought my plane was in 100 pieces and I didn't know where it was. I thought I had hit the top of the school and was stuck there or possibly in an open area inside the school so I searched there for about 5 minutes. I couldn't see it so I decided to throttle it up knowing that I would probably ruin my speed control in the process, especially if the propellor was stuck on something.

I hit the throttle and heard it behind me and went looking for it. I thought it might have just hit in a ditch because I heard it hit quite hard. I went looking and started moving the elevons to try and hear it and sure enough, I heard it and found it in the tree you saw in the video.

Now was the scary part. It was about 6:15 a.m. and I had to either jump the fence and grab it or wake someone up to get it. I decided to knock on the door, apologize over and over again, and hope they didn't get mad and decide to keep my plane.

I knocked and some older guy in his late 50's came to the door and it seemed like he had been awake for a little. That didn't surprise me too much because people in Tucson tend to wake up earlier because you can get more done in the morning before it heats up.

I proceeded to tell him what happened and apologized and he said he would go look for it. It took him quite a while to get it so I was worried that there were several pieces that had to be picked up or something but he eventually came back and said he had a hard time finding it since it was in the tree. I thanked him and apologized again and then left.

I went to look at the plane and surprisingly, the nose was a little scraped up and the camera had a few small scratches where it hit the roof but other than that, everything was still in great condition. I wasn't expecting that at all.

Then I got really excited because I might have gotten it all on video. I waited to see it happen and was blown away that it was all recorded. Kendall was surprised that I was so happy even though I had crashed my plane. There wasn't much damage done so I really didn't care. I got great footage so all was good.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029886

Length: 3:44

Semi-Front View

2008-04-20T18:04:00.002-05:00

This is my first attempt at getting a forward view from the plane. It wasn't faced all the way forward but enough to get a better FPV from the plane. I did barrel roll in the middle of it. Just be careful, you might get sick. I also didn't catch the landing on this one. I hate it when I misjudge how long I've been up and miss the end. There are quite a few videos though so there are many others.
Enjoy!

Semi-Front View from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029969

Length: 4:17

Aerial Video Part III

2008-04-20T18:01:00.001-05:00

This is part 3 of the set. It's nothing amazing but still an interesting video to watch. Nothing to explain in this video. It's pretty normal and nothing out of the ordinary.
Enjoy!

First Flight With View-Part 3 from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029666

Length: 5:46

Aerial Video Part II

2008-04-20T17:44:00.002-05:00

Here is part 2 of the set. The most interesting part of this video was that there are some birds that I got on video as we were flying past each other. Pretty exciting that something like that happened! It's not quite like some others who had a hawk attack their plane on video but it's almost as good.
Enjoy!

First Flight With View-Part 2 from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029646

Length: 5:52

Aerial Video Part I

2008-04-20T17:38:00.001-05:00

This is the first of a three part set of videos. It was orignally four videos but the fourth file got corrupted somehow and I couldn't recover the video. If I remember correctly, it was the one I looked forward to the most. Oh well, you can't have it all I suppose.
Again, this video was taken in Tucson, AZ. Most of the videos were all taken early in the morning around 5:00 or 5:30. We woke up really early since we stayed on an Oklahoma schedule. Also, it wasn't 115 degrees outside then either but more like 80 so it was quite nice to fly. It also helped keep the temperatures down on the speed control, motor, and battery so was less taxing on the electronics onboard the plane.
This was the first video with a view from the side. I turned the camera sideways to get the view because I still didn't know what to do to get a good forward facing view. The same applies for the other two in this set. It was a pretty standard flight. I did get so high that I couldn't figure out which way I was going so there's a spot where I lose control a bit.
When I was taking the videos, I really enjoyed flying but I looked forward to the videos I got afterwards. It's always interesting to see what you get when you finally get the video on the computer.
Enjoy!

First Flight With View-Part 1 from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029641

Length: 5:06

My Very First Aerial Video

2008-04-20T17:31:00.001-05:00

This is my very first aerial video I took with the camera. I got the idea from some various forums online with people doing the exact same thing.
The video was taken in Tucson, Arizona while we were out there as I did an internship with a company for the summer. This was my first attempt and I hadn't figured out how to mount the camera to get a view out the front so the camera is just pointed down. I will warn you though that you may get sick watching this video as the plane is not very stable because of winds and my mediocre flying abilities.
Kendall did some work as commentator during the video taken from the ground. I need to figure out a way to overlay her comments with the flying video. That would make for some good videos that familiy will like watching.

First Aerial Video from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/2029596

Length: 6:30

About This Blog

2008-04-20T17:28:00.000-05:00

If you've come to this site, it's most likely because you read our other blog. This is just a compilation of all the videos I have taken from my plane, helicopter, or truck. It's a lot of fun to do and watch. Some are edited and shortened to be easy to watch and some are just as they were taken from the vehicle. Beware that some of the videos can make you sick if you get motion sickness easily. Enjoy the videos and post any possible ideas you may have for a good video that won't be too risky to try out. Enjoy!